


A Day In the Life of Gabriel Agrest

by Locascia



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: AdayinthelifeofGabriel, FreeAdrien, Gorilleknowsall, MiraculousFanfictiongiftexchange, Villianlifestyles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-02-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:15:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22595377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Locascia/pseuds/Locascia
Summary: Gabriel Agrest is Hawkmoth. He lives with guilt and revenge bubbling inside. He uses them for his ultimate aim. He eats toast for breakfast. And he can do as he pleases. Or can he?Written for the Miraculous Ladybug Holidays Fanfiction Gift Exchange for u/Itsmeghand (only I'm really late at posting this- sorry!)
Kudos: 9





	A Day In the Life of Gabriel Agrest

**Author's Note:**

  * For [u/Itsmeghand](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=u%2FItsmeghand).



A Day in The Life of Gabriel Agreste 

5:27 am:  
Gabriel woke up much the same way he did every day, with the acrid taste of bile in the back of his throat. He didn’t need to look at the clock, he knew the time already. Every morning it was the same. He’d wake up three minutes before his alarm was set to go off and from another dream similarly unfolding behind his eyelids. 

Emilie’s green eyes burned in his mind, he could feel himself reaching for her, just out of grasp. He could hear her voice echoing, but it wasn’t saying what he wanted it to. It was stern. Rather than asking for him to save her, or reaching back for him, her form, his love, would stroke his cheek, place a hand on his shoulder, look him in the eyes, and say “Stop.” Or the face of their son, Adrien would morph out of hers. At times even Chat Noir, his nemesis that thwarted Grabriel’s plans along with his superheroine Ladybug, would flicker before his eyes. Each day the dream shifted slightly to include the battle of the day before. Today, oddly, it was Gorilla that appeared before him, blocking his view of Emilie. But the outcome was always the same. Gabriel could not save his wife. And in that liminal state of waking, he felt his failures rise up in him. And because he could not turn to grief, and because he did not know how to admit to his mistakes, he bubbled over with revenge. Hence the bile. And the absence of restful sleep.

But no mind, Emilie was sleeping enough for the two of them so the least he could do was to make use of his time while awake, no matter how much of a nightmare it actually was. 

6:07 am  
Gabriel sat down at his long lonesome table. A piece of toast with jam and salt and a cup of green tea sufficed to clear the bitter taste in the back of his throat. He had been a coffee drinker until Ms. Tsurugi has provided him with some excellent Sencha tea from Japan, equally as bitter as the black coffee he was used to, but easier on the stomach lining. He learned a lot from her. And while Gabriel didn’t have friends, he felt she was someone he could relate to.

6:30 am  
Natalie arrived, clipboard in hand, to report the latest news of the day. As she rattled off stats about sales for the recent line of Derby hats, reported on the shipment of rare silks they were waiting on, and finally reviewed Adrien’s schedule. Gabriel noticed the soft sorrow brimming behind her eyes. And also the exhaustion. Yesterday’s defeat hung in the air. Natalie didn’t show it, but he knew she was suffering from having donned the peacock miraculous. They had come so close! Miraculer had been a brilliant Akuma, even managed to strip his foes of their powers! The Bee Miraculous had been in their grasp! However, teenagers in spandex outnumbered them. And Natalie had taken the brunt of the fight. At least Chat Noir had received two cataclysms, the angry part of him mocked. At least that felt good to watch. But it just wasn’t enough. HE wasn’t enough. He never was. Not to save his Emilie and give Adrien back the life he needed him to have. It was all slipping away. And as he sat and listened to Natalie, he grew increasingly restless, hearing her defeat, seeing her pain, and watching as she covered it up with professionalism and perhaps something a little bit more. He needed a walk. 

7:02am  
Gabriel waited for the sound of the shower in Adrien’s room to turn on. Looking at his watch he saw that Adrien is running 2 min behind schedule and makes a mental note to discuss the tardiness with his son. 

7:07 am  
Gabriel walked in the garden around his home. He pauses in front of the stone statue of Emilie he had erected. “The only difference between this statue and my wife is the sarcophagus” he thought. Dark anger bubbled inside him. He walked more quickly towards the flowers that were blooming. He inspected the buds. Some had been nibbled on by aphids. In prior years he had had ladybugs brought to the garden to eat the aphids. But he couldn’t bring himself to do that this year. It was just a little too close to home. He would have to research other predators to bring into his garden to take care of the pests.

8:30 am  
Gabriel sat in front of his computer shooting off a series of emails to employees at his fashion house. He always made sure everyone had their tasks ready to go by the start of day. Then he moved on to critiquing the latest design concepts put forth by his team. It was easy to pass hours scanning through mediocrity detailing its inferiority. Being able to so quickly critique and highlight the flaws of others gave him a sense of calm. It acted as a balm and distraction from the sense of failure that was slowly infesting every aspect of his life. Maybe he should try therapy he thought wryly- Nah- that would only offer a distraction from his goal. 

11:22 am  
Sensing a strong emotion, Gabriel rises and moves to the painting behind his desk. Pressing three buttons, he opens the door into his subterranean lair, and thus to his alter ego. But by the time he has summoned Noroo’s transformation, the emotion has shifted. From anger and injustice to something less malleable, less easy to manipulate...resolve. No mind. Sure someone else in Paris must be having a bad day. He scans the area for more negativity. But the moment is gone. Only a shadowy residue of the resolve he encountered still hung in the air. Gabriel leaves his lair and walks over to the large cathedral ceilinged vault where tender plants and darkness surround the sarcophagus containing his wife. He wants to weep, but it takes tenderness to do so, and that river has long dried up inside him. He only stands in front of her, feeling his failure turn into a low rumble in his gut. Its noon and a man can’t survive on toast and tea after all. 

3:00 pm  
After lunch and several more hours in front of his computer, Gabriel looks up to see that Gorilla has returned with his son. He listened for the footsteps up the stairs, and, upon hearing them, sighs with relief. His son was safe behind the wall of the mansion. Safe in his room, away from those ‘friends’ of his and their incorrigible influence. For the next few hours, Gabriel could let his guard down.

Or so he thought. 

Because while today started like any other day in the life on Gabriel Agrest, it certainly didn’t end like it.

One day earlier

Chat Noir barely remembered entering through his window or how he made it to the bed. But as he collapsed into the soft fabric, he still felt a stinging pain in his ribs despite the plush bedding. 

It had been a particularly difficult fight. 

He’d never let on to Ladybug, but after Miraculer had managed to cataclysm him in the ribs the rest of the fight had been a blur. Now what was left was a smarting pain in his side and the lingering sense of panic that crept into his heart when Mayura reached for his ring. Ladybug’s yoyo came out of nowhere and knocked the blue hands away. That’s how it always was been him and his Lady. They could feel each other's pulse from across a fight, and after years of fighting side by side, they were able to anticipate each other’s needs. 

Moments later, when they watched Myura bounce away with the Bee miraculous in hand, it was that fusion of brain waves that gave Chat Noir the quick response to toss his baton at the same menacing blue hand so as to get Mayura to drop the bee pin, while Ladybug snatched it with her yoyo. They didn’t need words on days like this. 

Which is why he couldn’t tell her that for a moment there he thought maybe his luck had finally run out. Had the cataclysm he received seeped into his mood? The aches and pain lifted once they finally caught Miracular at her own game, but as he bounced home the stinging returned. He’d have to ask Plagg about it. 

Thinking of his Kwami made him realize that his transformation was holding longer than it should have. This was something Plagg only did if he knew that Adrien would be better off with the protection of the transformation. He made a mental note to order that cave-aged camembert he recently found to thank the little God. Being transformed felt good. He loved being Chat Noir for so many reasons, and he wanted to keep loving it, but getting hurt like this sacred him a bit more than he wanted to admit. 

The much needed rest was short-lived. “Plagg, claws in” he uttered and held his hands out to catch the tiny and presumably exhausted Kwami. 

“Kid, are you alright?” asked Plagg as he snuggled into the pillow next to Adrien.

“Plagg, please tell me that’s the first time you’ve been cataclysmed? That was awful!” He said as he stroked the little Kwami’s head. “I’m ok now, Ladybug’s miraculous cure helped, but I did get a fright, and my left rib is pulsing. Are you Ok?” He asked a little concerned.

“Nothing some cheese can’t fix” said Plagg, but only a weak smile formed on his lips. 

Adrien slid the ration of cheese over to the Kwami. “Just this once I’ll let you eat in bed, Plagg.”

10 hours later, Adrien pulled himself out of bed. He knew he had a photoshoot before. Gorilla was probably waiting for him downstairs already. He quickly grabbed his bag and ran his hands through his hair. His Father didn’t tolerate tardiness. If only he knew that Adrien’s spare time was spent leaping across the Parisian roofscapes and fighting villains who could literally pulverize his ribs. He’d have a fit. The thought made Adrien smile. 

3:14 pm  
Adrien was collapsed on his bed, still recovering from the day before. His ribs still hurt. Despite the cure. So it put on his headphones and listened to some Chinese language tapes. That always helped him nap. And today it helped him no hear what was about to transpire.

\-----

Gorilla always kept a close eye on Adrien. He could read his mood. He knew when he hadn’t slept enough. He knew when he was longing or sad. He also knew why. He knew way more than he should. 

He hadn’t taken much to piece together that Adrien was Chat Noir. There had been too many coincidences. Adrien ‘forgetting his fencing gear’ and dashing out of the car just as an akuma alert went off. Ok and then he had actually seen Chat Noir vault through the open window in Adrien’s room. He really didn’t understand how everyone else around him could be so blind. Once he figured it out, he couldn’t un-see it. 

And then it was only a matter of time before he realized, much to his horror, that the person constantly imperiling Adrien, was none other than Adrien’s very own father. No wonder this house gave him the creeps. No wonder the man never left the mansion, didn’t keep friends, and so often talked to himself. Gorilla was torn. He needed the job to protect Adrien. But if he exposed his boss, it would mean suffering for Adrien beyond measure. He watched day after day, fight after fight, as father and son battled blindly but with magical powers. It was f--king nuts. 

He always waited up to make sure Chat Noir returned how. He didn’t know what he would do if he didn’t. Which is why that very night, seeing how hurt he was, now deeply exhausted Adrien seemed, something in him snapped. Gorilla resolved, at last, to put an end to this madness. 

\----- 

Gabriel was sitting at his desk when the door abruptly opened. He didn’t need to look up from his work to recognize Gorilla’s lumbering walk. What he couldn’t place was the determination in his steps. It reminded him of something. Yes, it reminded him of the resolve he felt earlier in his lair. For a split second he shuttered but dismissed any warning. His eyes stayed steady on his computer screen. “Yes?” he asked without looking up.

Which was a mistake.

He didn’t see the blow coming.

Gorilla said nothing. He made no sound. But he packed a punch so hard into Gabriel’s face, it shattered his glasses and knocked the man out cold. After that take the butterfly broach was child’s play. Gorilla put it in his jacket pocket, and without him noticing, Nooroo quickly followed. 

3:27 pm  
After turning off the cameras in the mansion, and making sure Gabriel was still out. Gorilla knocked on the door to Adrien’s room. The tired teen looked up and immediately sat up in bed at attention, while Plagg zipped behind a trophy. Was it time to go already? 

But Adrien paused when he saw the look on his bodyguards face. Never one with words, the man wore his heart on his sleeve. Adrien couldn’t place the mixture of sorrow, concern, and glee he saw there. “What have I done?” he thought worried. “Did I miss another lesson? Or did my father notice I was 2 min late this morning?” 

Gorilla walked right over to Adrien. Took the Butterfly broach out of his pocket and handed it to him. Looking down at his feet he mumbled “Bring it to Ladybug” and turned to walk out. At the door Gorilla paused. He looked back to see the child that he had watched grow up, the boy he had had a hand in causing such hardship to and smiled knowing that he has also delivered him this freedom. 

It took a good 20 minutes before Adrien moved from the spot. But when he did, he called to Plagg “Claws out!” As the pulsing energy of his miraculous enveloped him, he smiled ‘What will Ladybug saw when she sees this? Will she understand that this means its the end? The end of our battle? The end of sneaking around and hiding so much from everyone? The end of hiding so much from each other?!’ He pulled out his communicator “LB I need to see you. Right away. It’s important. Meet me at top of the Eifel tower as soon as you get this.” And then as the reality of his confusion set in, he added ”Please M’Lady. I need you.” Confusion set in as he opened the window and leap out. ‘Where has the Butterfly Miraculous come from? And How, of all people did his bodyguard manage to get it?’ His mind was overcome with questions. But no matter. They could figure this out together. For the first time in forever, nothing stood in his way. 

\----------  
I'm sorry I'm so late. I don't really have a good excuse. Other than life. And kids. And work. And I've never written anything before. Every. Also, I know I probably need to finish this up. And add a few more hours to Gabriel's day. I just got obsessed with this idea that le Gorille quietly and unceremoniously defeats Hawkmoth. And I might write the next scenes where Chat and Ladybug meet and talk. But Chat doesn't know its his Dad yet. And le Gorille disappears. And Gabriel tries to pretend nothing happened. But really that's a whole other story. For now, here's my answer to your prompt!


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